Tahuna Breaks: Shadow Light

Oh man I hated Tahuna Breaks – just embarrassing cod-reggae, the sort this country loves to serve up, loves to lap up. But I’m almost impressed by this new album, this departure.

What was always clear about Tahuna Breaks, a seven-piece band with aims of bringing funk and dance-party happiness to the groove, was a lack of direction. They didn’t quite know what they wanted to be and weren’t good enough to be great, lacking the awareness, it seemed, to recognise how close to awful they were.

But maybe, four years on, there’s been some soul searching. And though you could argue that their sound is still on the search for actual soul there’s a bubbly feel to this influenced, at least in part, by co-producers Crazy P.

So the end result is that Tahuna Breaks is no longer a ghastly reggae band. But what they are now – almost – is Jamiroquai. Well, that’s at best. At worst, as is sometimes the way with this record still, they sound a bit like Jamiroquai fronted by Sting. Still, a vast improvement from where they were. Hats off then.